A giant metal octopus looms over the entrance to the Santa Monica Pier's Pacific Park.

At night, the octopus changes colors under different lights, making it a delight for photographers such as Eric Lassiter.

"Standing above the main entrance to the rides on the pier is this giant octopus, with its graceful giant tentacles," Lassiter said. "Come back at Christmas and the octopus sports a Christmas cap and beard."

Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California and California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments or #californiamoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more.

The generally crowded pier at King Harbor in Redondo Beach was left empty. But for Lenny Lloyd da Silva, the unusually dramatic weather and big cloud formations are just an invitation to go out and shoot photos.

Da Silva captured a moment of calm during a break in the storm. The reflection in the slick concrete blends together pier, ocean and sky, and the line of jellyfish etchings seem to swim out to sea.

"I wanted to catch the pier somewhat empty and with the reflections," Da Silva said. "It was close to sunset, the light was so moody and the ocean was so calm, where a few minutes ago, it was such a mess. Just a very cool scene."

Last December, Tony Scott and a couple of friends were out and about in downtown Los Angeles, when they took a moment to pose by what Scott calls a “favorite and iconic street scene for photographers,” near Walt Disney Concert Hall.

“I wanted to capture the perfect jump shot while also capturing their shadows,” the photographer said. “This underground location coupled with the light shining through from the overpass makes for a great photo opportunity."

Last fall, photographer Nima Razfar was observing the endless stream of pedestrians in downtown Los Angeles when he spotted a woman in the crowd, holding a red umbrella on 5th Street.

With his Nikon D200 inconspicuously at his waist, Razfar positioned himself ahead of time in the hopes of capturing a shot of her walking through his frame.

“I pulled the camera to my eye and snapped away just as she glanced towards me and caught me peering at her through my lens,” he said. “She pulled the umbrella and covered her face for my next two shots."

Razfar says the woman never looked back but that for those few seconds they spoke to each other in what he calls the “universal language of the eyes.”

Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California and California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments or #californiamoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter...

Last year, after one of the rare but impactful Southern California storms, Alejandro Rubalcaba was looking up through the sunroof of his car, which had sat outside the previous night near an aqueduct on Balboa Boulevard. As the reflections and lighting caught his eye, he captured this image on his iPhone 5.

Though no filters were used, Rubalcaba said he boosted the contrast "to make the blacks a little more solid."

Each week, we're featuring photos of Southern California and California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments or #californiamoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.

Nicola Buck recently captured this image of her daughter atop a local street in the Pacific Palisades, which she says also serves as the unofficial entrance to the Santa Monica mountains.

"The clouds weren't so visible in this shot because I was exposing for shadow, taking it into the sunlight. We stood on the edge and had the view of the canyon below. Always incredible. It was pretty windy and the sun still has that wintery feel, so a very different feel to summer.

I love seeing my kids in majestic California nature. I never take it for granted. We are so lucky to have it all, mountains and ocean on our doorstep.

I love the warm colors in this one and for a spot that has been very arid in recent months. I loved the various shades of lush green after recent rain and how the sun caught my daughter's hair."